Chapter 19: James

James and Trixie signed out of the hotel room and drove in a tense silence back to Trixie's apartment. When they got there, Trixie silently got out of the car and walked in without waiting for James. James grabbed the bags from the back seat and followed her in. When James got up the stairs, he opened the door to see Trixie sitting before his side table, a stick of sandalwood lit. She was seated on the floor, eyes closed, taking in the scent. With each inhale, he watched her body untense a little bit more. He placed the bags near the door and kicked it closed with his foot. He padded over to her and silently sat down next to her. She reached out for him and took his hand.

"Thank you," she said, sounding like herself for the first time in two days. Relief washed over James and he squeezed her hand. "Ow," she yelped, surprised.

"Sorry," he replied, "I'm just really glad you're ok. That you're gonna be ok. We'll get through all of this, together."

They sat on the floor in comfortable silence until the incense stick burned away, then they sat there longer, until Trixie's stomach growled. "I don't have anything here to eat," Trixie said woefully.

"Pizza?" James asked, rising and grabbing his jacket. Trixie nodded gratefully and he headed out the door.

James left the pizza shop, hot box on his hands, when a white kitten rubbed itself on his boot. "Hello, there," he said, "Where's your person?" James looked around, but there was no one on the street but him. He secured the pizza box on his cargo hold and squatted down to inspect the kitten. There was no collar, but the kitten didn't appear mangey or malnourished either.

Just then, the owner of the sushi shop across the street stepped out and yelled, "Free rolls if you keep that kitten away for a week!" before slamming the door.

James smiled down at the kitten, "Trouble maker, are we?" He reached out his hand to it and it slinked over and pressed itself into his palm. He reached out to pet it more, and it didn't resist him. "I hope I don't regret this," he mumbled to himself as he scooped up the kitten and unzipped his jacket half way. He placed the kitten inside his jacket and rezipped it. Instead of fighting, like he anticipated, the kitten snuggled against his t-shirt. The kitten stayed there, purring in time with the motorcycle engine, the whole way back home.

In the apartment, the smell of sandalwood was still strong. He presumed Trixie had lit a second stick while he was gone. He walked into the kitchen and put down the still-warm box. "Trix?" he called.

"In here," she responded from the bedroom.

"Pizza's here," he called in return.

When she neither appeared nor answered, he dared to peek into the bedroom and check on her. He found her with her eyes fixed on her computer screen.

"Research mode," he said, "What are we checking?"

"Job openings and apartment rentals in Anchorage," she replied. He laughed, but stopped immediately when she looked up to glare at him.

"Running away won't solve anything," he said sitting beside her. Suddenly his coat moved and he realized he forgot about the kitten. He gently pushed her laptop closed. "Um...," he started, "I may have done something..." She looked at him expectantly. He unzipped his coat and the kitten's head popped out and meowed.

"Oh!" Trixie cooed, "That's...oh!" She reached a hand out and the kitten, just like for James before, extended its head to press into her hand. She reached out to hold it and it jumped out of his jacket and into her arms. Trixie smiled, joy radiating from her eyes. "You brought home a kitten! Thank you."

"This little one found me," he replied, smiling, "Don't thank me, thank her."

"Are you sure it doesn't have an owner?" she asked, giving it a once over.

"Apparently she's been terrorizing the sushi place," he answered chuckling. He paused for a moment, his demeanor becoming serious. "I don't think I can go too far from New York," he said finally, glancing at the computer.

"Oh," Trixie answered, much more deflated.

"Last night after cake, Bruce offered me a position on his show; production stuff to start, maybe eventually designing some experiments and skits," he said, "I thought I wanted to go back to school, but starting over feels so...empty. Things feel complete right now. I don't want to go back and start fresh when I finally have everything right right now."

She pet the kitten's head and listened to it purr for what felt like an eternity. "What do you think, Snowball?" she finally asked. "Sushi?" she tried again.

"Alpine," James said and the kitten looked over at him.

"Ok, Alpine," Trixie tried again. The kitten looked at her expectantly. "Alaska?" The kitten stayed quiet. "Or New York?" The kitten meowed in response.

"So we're making life decisions based on a stray cat we just found?" James laughed.

"I could go back to mileage," Trixie said, "I was about to check out teaching degree reciprocity in Australia."

"Can we try New York for a while? And if it doesn't work out, we can look at Portland or Tacoma. Maybe Vancouver."

"You would move across the country with me?"

"In a heartbeat," he said, kissing her hand.

"Promise?"

"Always."